The landscape of Cherry Street from Church Street heading west toward Pine Street has been marked of late by what’s no longer there.

The bus station that moved across the street, the demolished portion of the Burlington Town Center and the abandoned Macy’s store all combine to give that downtown stretch a ghost-town feel.

Now the landscape has, well, a landscape: Morrisville artist Jess Graham is painting a sprawling mural along the north wall of the Church Street store Outdoor Gear Exchange. The painting reflects activities the store’s contents might inspire people to do in the natural surroundings of Vermont, from sailing to hiking to stand-up paddle boarding.

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Jess Graham works from the top of a lift on her mural on Cherry Street in Burlington on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018.(Photo: BRENT HALLENBECK/FREE PRESS)

Mural: 16 feet high, 206 feet long

The scope of Graham’s painting tests the boundaries of what one might call a mural. Her colorful work-in-progress will gambol 206 feet down Cherry Street, with its 16-foot height giving the painting dimensions of more than 3,000 square feet.

“Now we just call them ‘big paintings,’” Graham said Friday during a break in her work. “Everything else I’ve done pales in comparison.”

Graham might be best known for her work with The Alchemist, the Stowe brewer and manufacturer of the Heady Topper line of beers that hired her five years ago to be its in-house graphic designer. The Morrisville native has sold her paintings and illustrations at locations including the Burlington Farmers Market and has taught in her hometown at River Arts.

“My life ambition is to be able to do more mural art,” Graham said. “It’s such a gift to have my debut in Burlington be this 3,000-square-foot mural.”

Outdoor Gear Exchange initiated mural project

The mural came about when Outdoor Gear Exchange asked marketer Jill Badolato to come up with a plan for dressing up the elongated wall on Cherry Street. Badolato oversaw similar large-scale projects during her career at Dealer.com, including the art-adorned silos on the company’s Pine Street property.

Badolato was familiar with Graham’s work and knew her to be a mountain biker and snowboarder who would grasp the outdoorsy aspect of the project. She walked with Graham toward the mural site on June 6 to prepare the artist for what she would be facing.

“It was intimidating,” Graham said of her reaction to seeing what was then a plain, light-aqua-toned wall. “I just thought, ‘Wow, this is big.’”

“This is just a triple XL mural,” Badolato said.

Mural includes representations of diversity

Murals have been a touchy topic in Burlington of late.

The "Everyone Loves a Parade!" mural commissioned by the Church Street Marketplace and painted in an alleyway off of Church Street has been criticized for the lack of diversity depicted in its people and scenes. The city is reviewing what to do in light of the controversy.

Graham's mural takes account of Vermont's diversity.

"We were thoughtful in the design process to represent gender balance as well as racial diversity reflective of our community," Badolato said. She said most of the people are intentionally nondescript "to leave it to the viewer to interpret who they see reflected in the work.”

Graham began painting in late July and expects to wrap up by mid-September. She and Badolato, the project manager, have enlisted numerous volunteers to help paint the mural. Graham blocks out 3-foot-by-3-foot sections and creates segments with lettering inside them that indicates the color that will go there.

“It’s brick by brick, section by section,” Graham said, noting that many visitors comment that it’s like a paint-by-numbers work. “It’s paint by letter.”

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Some of the images of Jess Graham's work-in-progress mural on Cherry Street in Burlington.(Photo: BRENT HALLENBECK/FREE PRESS)

Mural 'already a selfie backdrop'

Badolato said those visitors cover a wide variety of pedestrians, from tourists going between the Church Street Marketplace and the hotels and restaurants at the west end of Cherry Street to those heading to the courthouse and bus station across Cherry Street. “It’s also already a selfie backdrop,” Badolato said.

Almost on cue, a couple from Ottawa started taking mobile-phone photos of the mural a few yards from where Graham and Badolato were standing Friday afternoon. “I think it’s absolutely lovely,” Raj Capoor said, adding that his wife, Beverly Janes, makes a point of visiting murals in all communities they visit.

“You’re art tourists,” Graham told them. “I love it.”

“I love the migration of colors you’ve done,” Capoor said of the mural that reflects the change of seasons, going from warm tones toward cooler shades as the painting moves east to west.

Unlike art in a museum that patrons have to go to, Badolato said Graham’s mural will be there for everyone to see, its images interspersed among parked cars and pedestrians along Cherry Street.

“All the people who walk this block,” Badolato said, “are now a part of it.”

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.